With 60 goals, Sam Reinhart has made Florida Panthers history. He wants to win the Cup even more

FORT LAUDERDALE, Fla. (AP) — It has become a running joke with the Florida Panthers. Ask coach Paul Maurice about Sam Reinhart, and he will say something less than glowing about his team’s top goal scorer.

These are actual examples:

“He’s hard to deal with.”

“He’s got a terrible attitude.”

“He’s mean to small animals, squirrels especially.”

To be clear, Maurice means absolutely none of those things. Reinhart can become a free agent on July 1, and the jabs — all done in jest — are Maurice’s faux efforts to try and deter other clubs from signing the player who has put together the biggest goal-scoring season in Panthers history. Reinhart has 60, including three in the playoffs, topping Pavel Bure’s mark of 59.

“It’s a big, big number,” Maurice said. “There isn’t a cheat part in his game. And what’s impressive about the 60 is he didn’t hang out on the power play and if he was on the ice for empty-netters it was the right thing for him to be on the ice … that’s not how he gets his goals. What’s great about him is he scored 60 goals and that clearly is the headline, but it’s not necessarily the best part of his game.”